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40 bodies from jet solemnly returned to Dutch soil

Published on NewsOK
Modified: July 23, 2014 at 4:04 pm •
Published: July 23, 2014

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EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — Victims of the Malaysian jetliner shot down over Ukraine returned at last Wednesday to Dutch soil in 40 wooden coffins, solemnly and gently carried to 40 identical hearses, flags at half-staff flapping in the wind.

Pallbearers carry a coffin towards a hearse during a ceremony to mark the return of the first bodies, of passengers and crew killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, from Ukraine at Eindhoven military air base, Netherlands, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. After being removed from the planes, the bodies were taken in a convoy of hearses to a military barracks in the central city of Hilversum, where forensic experts will begin the painstaking task of identifying the bodies and returning them to their loved ones. (AP Photo/Phil Nijhuis)

The carefully choreographed, nearly silent ceremony contrasted sharply with the boom of shells and shattered glass in eastern Ukraine as pro-Russian rebels fought to hang onto territory and shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets. The bold new attack showed the separatists are not shying away from shooting at the skies despite international outrage and grief at the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Even though they are still unidentified, the corpses that arrived on two military transport planes in Eindhoven were embraced by a nation unmoored by the loss of so many people caught in someone else's faraway war.

Boys going to visit their grandparents, a flight attendant hurrying to get home, a bouncer heading to see his sweetheart were among the 298 victims of the jetliner that was blown out of the sky on July 17, intensifying anger at the separatists suspected of bringing it down with a surface-to-air missile.

Nearly a week later, international investigators still don't have unfettered access to the crash site, some remains have yet to be recovered, and armed men roam the region, defying their government.

Investigators in a lab in southern England began studying the plane's "black boxes" Wednesday in hopes of learning about the Boeing 777's final minutes. The Dutch Safety Board, which has taken control of the investigation, said the cockpit voice recorder suffered damage but showed no sign of manipulation, and its recordings were intact. Specialists will start studying the flight data recorder Thursday.

Families of passengers moved to a new stage of grief as the bodies began arriving in the Netherlands, the country that bore the heaviest death toll.

The families had spent days agonizing in wait while their loved ones' remains lay in sweltering fields in eastern Ukraine before being gradually shifted by truck, train and plane.

"If I have to wait five months for identification, I can do it," said Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son, Bryce, and his girlfriend Daisy Oehlers died in the crash. "Waiting while the bodies were in the field and in the train was a nightmare."

On a day of national mourning, flags flew at half-staff on Dutch government buildings and family homes around this nation of 17 million.

Church bells rang out around the country as the Dutch and Australian military transport planes taxied to a standstill. King Willem-Alexander clasped the hand of his wife, Queen Maxima, as the couple grimly watched uniformed pallbearers carry the coffins slowly from the planes to a fleet of waiting hearses.

Almost the only sound was of boots marching across the ground and flags flapping in the wind.

Then as the last hearses drove away, applause briefly broke out. Along the route, there was more applause from people gathered along the roadsides. Some tossed flower petals at the motorcade.

From the airport, they drove under military police escort to the central city of Hilversum where forensic experts waited at a military barracks to carry out the painstaking task of identifying the remains. Prime Minister Mark Rutte says many bodies could be identified quickly, but some families may have to wait weeks.

Two more planeloads of victims will be flown Thursday to Eindhoven to a similar ceremony, the Dutch government said.

The rebels, undeterred, fought to hold onto territory and said they attacked two Ukrainian air force jets in the same area where the passenger plane fell.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said the Su-25s were shot about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the wreckage from the Malaysian jet. The separatist group Donetsk People's Republic said on its website that one of the pilots was killed and another was being sought by rebel fighters.

The attack revived questions about the rebels' weapons capabilities — and how much support and training they are getting from Russia. The U.S. accuses Russia of backing the separatists and fueling Ukraine's conflict, which has brought Russia's relations with the West and key trading partners in Europe to a two-decade low.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the downing of the fighter jets "speaks to the pattern we've seen over the last several weeks, which is Russian-backed separatists armed with Russian anti-aircraft posing risk to aircraft in Ukraine."